When Gmail launched in 2004 serious users of email used desktop applications such as Outlook and Eurdora, and most thought of web-based email as as a toy. But Gmail’s embrace of the web interface, universal accessibility, and free service make it a preferred email client for more than 350 million users, including 5,000+ enterprise customers who sign up every day (Source: Google Investor Relations 2012).

Screenleap’s product takes a similar approach, moving screen sharing out of the desktop, and into the browser, offering universal accessibility across desktop, laptop, and mobile devices, and providing a free basic service for anyone to use.

The average Internet user spends 2.5 hours per day on email and most Screenleap users send links as their primary means of notifying viewers. Since our goal is make screen sharing as easy as possible, we built a Gmail plugin that lets your share your screen instantly from within Gmail. When designing this plugin, we drew inspiration from other Gmail plugins such as Rapportive and Boomerang that increase productivity and enable you to have richer email experiences. Rapportive surfaces contact profile information and Boomerang is an email scheduling service.

Once installed, Gmail users don’t even have to leave their inbox to share their screen.

Click the “Compose” button from your inbox to begin a new email. Click the “Share screen” button to start a new screen share and your email will be automatically populated with the share link that you can send to your viewers. This is ideal when your viewers are not logged in to Gmail or don’t have a Gmail account.

When your viewer is logged in to Gmail and is already a Gmail contact of yours, you can share your screen by moving your mouse over the viewer’s name and clicking the screen share icon in the contact profile that appears.

Clicking screen share icon in the contact profile initiates a screen share and inserts the share link into the Google Chat window for you to send to them. All the viewer has to do is click on the link to start viewing your screen.

You can also initiate a screen share with someone you are already chatting with by clicking the screen share icon in the chat window. Your chat window will automatically be populated with the share link.

Screenleap is commonly used as a collaboration tool for tight-knit groups of teammates when working remotely or even intra-office. As part of our mission to provide the fastest, simplest and most reliable screen sharing product on the planet, today we’re announcing the general availability of Friends Lists.

Friends Lists are free, and allow teammates to share their screens in under 10 seconds. A Screenleap account (free) is required, and account holders, when logged in, are immediately alerted with online notifications when a friend would like to share their screen – kind of like instant messaging.

Account holders not currently logged in are dispatched an email or text message with link to the screen sharing session based on their contact permission settings (email or text).

Now, instead of having to read share codes out loud, or copy/paste email links, teammates can be invited to see your screen with the click of a button.

Sharing screens with your teammates has never been easier. You can get started today by signing up for an account, adding your friends and co-workers to your Friends List, and then starting screen sharing sessions faster than anywhere else on the web!